Tanks:Part 2
Tank battles are something that was introduced in the first World War, and even had made history in one way or another. This is a 4 part series of where we talk about the evolution of tanks. This is Part 2 of this series, it'll talk about Tanks of the Second World War, how it changed warfare (even tank warfare) and how each side used them and some of the biggest Tank Battles in the war. With the rise of Hitler and his Nazis in 1933, the Furher himself had believed that the tank was going to be the biggest asset in the incoming war, and was vastly involved in the infamous Nazi "Panzerkampfwagen" or Panzer project. One of the other people involved in the new tank strategy was a Nazi tank general named Heinz Guderian who introduced the concentrtion of tanks in one area, and also the usage of an entire radio system so tank commanders can communicate with each other despite the noise of war. This is the Tank that was used to kick off World War 2 by invading Poland, it was also used in the Nazi campaign for western Europe as they outclassed the French tanks very easily and took Paris. But the most significant to the Nazi tank divisions was the radio system the Nazi tank commanders used to coordinate comands and other situations which before was used Pasenger Pidgeons or flags (or hand signals). However, as the Nazi Tank commanders stormed into the Soviet Union, they would see a very big surprise by the Soviets. A tank that the Nazis never thought the Soviets would create. Taken the model of J. Walter Christie. The Russians made this tank with the Christie Suspension system which gives this tank an edge over it's Nazi enemies in terms of going over rough terrain, it even had thr sloped armor design which give it a bit more protection. But, the Nazis also had some more tanks at their disposal. With the Nazis learning the design of the T-34, they have created this tank, it uses the same sloped armor design and with thicker armor as well, making it tougher than the regular Panzer tank. But this wasn't the only tank the Nazis used against the Soviets. A definite monster on the WW2 battlefield. It uses an 88 Milimeter cannon which was at one time a anti-aircraft cannon. The Nazis realized that this can also destroy tanks as well as low flying aircraft. It also had very thick armor which made this tank seemingly invincible. In the summer of 1943 is when the Battle of Kursk took place. This was considered to be one of the biggest tank battles in the history of warfare. Both the Nazis and the Soviets suffered nearly equal losses in terms of tanks, but what the Soviets have proven in this particular battle is that the strength in the tank is not in the weapons, not the armor, but in numbers. The Soviets not only had more tanks, but can replace them easier than the Nazis can. The Nazis would also face another abundant tank in the form of what the USA fielded in the war. Though, this tank didn't outperform any of the Nazi tanks, but like the T-34, the Sherman could also out number any of the Nazi tanks as it saw it's first piece of action in the Pacific, but it didn't face a real opponent until the USA began it's campaign in North Africa. The tank was easy meat for the Tiger's 88 MM, though the USA had made up to around 48,000 to 54,000 of these tanks easily outnumbering the Nazi Tanks. However, the Tiger was not the only fearful tank the Nazis had. Supposedly a *real* force on the battlefield, and it was also a moving havy artillery piece since it had armor so thick, no standard tank round can take it out. But like it's predecessor, there wasn't enough of them to make any difference in the war. World War 2 also saw the inception of man-portable anti-tank weapons such as the American Bazooka and even the Nazi Panzerschreck and Panzerfaust. What these weapons have in common is that they were HEAT which means High Explosive Anti-Tank, that means that one infantryman has the power to destroy a tank. What these weapons have is a warhead that is made especially to explode once it hits the tank armor. It also made specifically to make something called a "Jet" of fire (imagine compressed boiling hot lava) which vaproizes the area of the armor it hits and destroy the tank from the inside, igniting ammunition and killing the crew inside. This would be something to fear for decades. The Japanese also had tanks as well during the war. Though, this tank, which is the main battle tank for the Japanese during the war, was more of an anti-infantry tank as Japan was storming through China, Southeast Asia and the Philippines. It wasn't diesgned for a real tank-on-tank combat. This point was made brutally clear during the America's Island hopping campaign in the Pacific as the Ha-Go went up against the M-4 Sherman, it didn't prove itself as it was a primitive machine in comparison to the Sherman. That will be it for this page. Page 3 (click here) will tell about more of the evolution of tanks during the Cold War, and other sporadic battles that took place in the Middle East, Korea and Vietnam. Until Next time, this is Johnny OTGS signing out.